The Sandbox
by cantabilewriting
Summary: Sometimes the best things in life come at the most unexpected moments - as early as possible.
1. Chapter 1

17 March 2008

**The Sandbox**

_**Sometimes the best things in life come at the most unexpected moments.**_

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**Chapter One**

"There you go, baby." Sakura was already eyeing the best spot in the sandbox to try out her new toy shovel. Her dad shuffled her hair and left her to enjoy herself to her heart's content. She knew he'd be sitting on his favorite bench with a book, always near her to come to her aid when she needs him.

Today she was going to build a castle in the sand. She dreamt about it last night. She was the princess there and everyone loved her. So when her older brother gave her his favorite shovel, she knew she will be making the biggest castle ever.

Holding the prized possession in her puffy left hand, she started her quest to find the perfect spot. Using her arms and legs she crawled to one corner of the sandbox to the next until she found it. As excited as a two year old could be, she crawled as quickly as possible and sat contentedly with a thump. She was too busy digging her way to bliss to notice the shadow fall upon her.�

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"That's my spot."

"Huh?" the little girl responded. 

Slightly annoyed, Syaoran moved closer until he almost bumped into her, "That's my spot." He repeated

The girl looked at the heap of sand she successfully dug and frowned, "No it's not." But she sounded unsure of herself. 

"Sure it is." As if to prove his point he sat beside her and settled himself. 

"But I've been coming here almost every day and I don't even see you."

He flinched, "It's been my spot since yesterday."

That almost convinced her. "But onechan said this is a pu…a pub…" she tried to remember the new word her brother taught her, "a public sandbox!" she almost squealed in delight as she remembered it, then went back to her point, "so anyone can play here."

"Well…" Syaoran tried to think of something more convincing to say, "not since yesterday." He reasoned, "So move."

He turned his back on her and scattered his toys. He was already busy in his own world until he felt a tug in his shirt. "What?"

"Um, can I borrow your spot for a while?"

He looked around the big sandbox, "There are a lot of other spots there."

"But I already started building my castle here, and it's really hard to make it." She pointed at her imaginary castle and although it didn't look anything like a castle he felt that she put all of her efforts in there. Mama said that effort is one of the most important things to practice in life. "Please?"

"Fine." With a huff, he took his toys with him and scattered it somewhere else. Now, going back from when he was interrupted, Captain Robot was captured by the enemy, it's up to…"

"This is where my room would be…and the garden is going to be here."

Syaoran moved a bit farther away. Now, Captain Robot's partner…

"…and onechan's room will be here."

He squeezed his brows in concentration. Captain Robot's partner is on his way! The action figure moved faster than he intended but once again…

"And otousan…and okaasan…"

"Cut it out!"

"Huh?"

He huffed in irritation and moved near her, "I said cut it out. I can't play when you're being so noisy."

"Oh, I didn't know. Sorry." She said sheepishly.

"Yeah, yeah…" he muttered and went back to playing. Quiet minutes passed and Syaoran was sure that he was totally absorbed in his own world. He never notices the time until his mom would come up to him and tell him they had to go home. 

Gathering his own toys, he put it in his bag as he was taught to do and reached up his arms so his mom could carry him all the way home. Resting his head on his mom's shoulder, fatigue slowly creeping to his little body, he noticed the little girl succumb to exhaustion as her dad carried her as well, leaving the pile of sand behind. He thought it still didn't look anything like a castle when he slowly fell asleep.

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**Author's notes**

I was reading some cute quotes when the idea for this story came. I intended this to be a one-shot but the whole idea for the fic didn't seem to bunch up in just one chapter so...there. :) i'll try to update this story this week but i won't promise anything! hehe..anyway this isn't the real fic I'm working on so please look out for it. 

_Any comments/flames/suggestions are always welcome. Please leave a review!_

**-cantabilewriting**

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two **

"Hey." It was the girl from yesterday.

"What're you doin' here?" He scowled. He didn't want any company; he just wanted her to go away.

Oblivious on what the boy was thinking, Sakura just giggled, "I play here remember?" she said smiling. "My dad always brings me here. See that?" She pointed at the man sitting on the bench wearing eyeglasses. Sakura waved playfully at him who in turn also waved back, "That's my dad."

Syaoran just grunted and tried to look away, although in some adults' eyes they would see a curious peek hidden under pride a five year old boy could muster.

"How 'bout you," the girl's excited face was suddenly inches from his, "where's your dad?"

No other statement could have made his gloomy day even gloomier, "I don't have a dad." He said as he stood up, kicking sand with him.

If Sakura did sense anything wrong she was very successful in not letting him know it while she curiously followed and sat beside him. He was able to ignore her presence in full thirty seconds until he snapped at her.

"Why're you bugging me anyway? Don't you have castles to build?"

"Nope."

He frowned at her indifference, "Well…I'm giving you my spot. Build whatever you want. Go. Shoo."

"Oh!" she suddenly squealed, "Is that your mom?"

She was pointing at a tall lady, whose waist-long black hair hung loosely, covering her porcelain skin. She sat on the same bench where Sakura's dad was.

"Yeah…" Syaoran answered uneasily as he warily eyed Sakura who was waving her hand at her, "How'd you know."

She shrugged, "I dunno, just fits." He gave her a quizzical stare until she burst out laughing, "She was holding your bag." She answered truthfully.

"Uh huh." He turned away and tried to ignore her once again.

"Hey, hey! Do you have any brothers?"

He frowned, "No."

"Oh you're so lucky!" she huffed, "I have a brother who likes bossing me around, and he tells me about ghosts." She shivered lightly, "Scary things."

"Sisters are worse." He responded.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he continued, "Whenever they see me they automatically go _'Aw, my cute little brother_." He mimicked his sisters, exaggerating a bit. He shivered as well and earned another giggle from Sakura, "And I have _four_ of them."

He suddenly felt a strong wave of loneliness as he remembered. He didn't want to be in this strange place. He wanted to go back home, sleep in his own bed, play in their backyard.

Her laughter roused him from his reverie and then the loneliness slowly dissipated.

"How 'bout cousins? Do you have any?" Her question made him completely forget about what he was thinking. "I have the bestestcousin in the world!" She continued, "She lives in a really big house and she always have body guards wherever she goes."

He thought for a while, "I have a cousin. She's really strong but she's a crybaby. She cried over a _bird_!" He said incredulously. "When I helped her she said that I'll have to marry her." He sniffed and scratched his nose.

"Marry? What's that?"

"I dunno," he shrugged, "must be a special kind of cousin of something."

Sakura dropped the foreign subject and sighed wistfully at Syaoran's mother, "Your mom's really pretty."

His shoulders fell as he diverted his gaze, "I don't look much like her. Everyone in my family says so."

"Well then, your dad must've been a wonderful person." The sudden change of topic threw him off balance.

"How'd you know? You never even met him." _I never even met him_, he thought.

"Well if you're not much like your mom, who would you had taken after, silly?"

The indirect compliment was like a soothing balm in a never-healing wound. "Right." He replied shakily. Not wanting her to notice the tears forming in his eyes, he changed the subject, "where's your mom?"

"Hm…" she thought for a while and then smiled, "I think she's showing your dad around heaven."

So maybe he wasn't the only one who never met a parent. Maybe for once, he could ignore the emptiness in his heart. Maybe, he could stop forgetting and start accepting.

When she smiled it wasn't hard for him to smile back anymore.

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**Author's notes**

I'm glad I was able to update in less than two weeks I hope you enjoy my fic as much as I enjoy writing it. And yeah, I also thought that these would be too much a cute little five year old Syaoran could handle but he'll get by.

_Any comments/flames/suggestions are always welcome. Please leave a review! _

**cantabilewriting**


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